This Is Very Sad

[Old plug]

Well we have threats from outside, but you young people on here better pay close attention to what is going on INSIDE the country. Like I said to many people feel de franchised. I may not be here to see it but I fear for my children and grand children. Your very close to loosing it all in this nation and most people do not see it. It is better to stick your head in the sand and say The good old USA will be fine no matter. But you might want to review some history. The people I called de franchised number far far to many. All they need is some kind of leadership and they are going to rise up and your going to have a very bloody civil war. I think the government is thinking the same thing. I think that it is a good part of the reasoning behind arming police with the things they are arming them with. Its has been done in the past by other goverments.

[hank franklin]

Two things:

1. Regarding what Old Plug says, read the Declaration of Independence and substitute "Big Money Power Elite" for the "the King" and marvel at how closely the two correlate.

2. Contrary to so much gloom among the peoples, the American fundamentals are actually very very strong. We are the world's largest producer of oil AND natural gas. We are in an energy boom. Second, we are filthy rich in agriculture. Argue the fine points but in the big picture we are an agriculture powerhouse.

So, energy plus food. We lead in both. On those points alone we should be the most prosperous nation on earth. Oh, wait a minute, we ARE the most prosperous nation on earth.

But our government, which is supposed to be "by the people," instead is "by the money" or "by the corporations." Etc...

[Tim Smith]

It tears me up to hear and read of conservatives bashing liberals and liberals bashing conservatives constantly as if they were the enemy, and it's obvious that whole lot of people really think those on the other side ARE the enemy. THAT'S what will be the downfall of this country. 9/11 showed that we CAN get that spirit of cooperation and respect back, but once the dust settled it went away again. I hate to think that it takes such a horrific threat to this country to get it back.

This one is hard. Over and over you have the experience of showing up in a place and just because you are left or right of center, you're seen a certain way. They don't have the time to know you as a person, so they write you off as a certain kind of person that they doesn't really matter. They've got their own business and you're not worth their time to really understand. That goes back to Plug's point too.

Some people do feel disenfranchised. But some of that cannot be avoided. We have 300 million people in this country now. In a lot of places most of those folks are brown or yellow or something other than the European heritage that has been the majority in the continental US since we shoved the Native Americans aside. Your experience is not their experience and we aren't all going to see things the same way. So, by simple math, your vote IS smaller. It's divided 300 million ways. On top of that, we've become less naive about the implications of our actions. If you want to fish, you're going to need a clean river. That means some one is going to have to get in your grill if you pollute...and frankly there's no one that's going to do that but the government. So we have more restrictions because to keep the good things that we have, we can't just behave any way we like.

So we feel less powerful, and we feel hemmed in. But those are the logical realities of modern life. You can still change the world, but it's going to take a lot of work and you can bet someone out there will disagree with what you're doing so it won't come without some conflict. And some of those people are going to be richer and better educated and more connected than you, so you'd better get connected and educated in your own right.

That's what it means to be an adult in the 21st century.

[Jerry Rapp]

funny post Tim. A while back I said I would be glad to spend a day fishing with you, and you blew me off. You are a liberal, I am a conservative. But you were the one who got their panties in a wad.

[Mitch f]

The USA is very much in decline...similar to the Roman Empire, we have no moral compass anymore.

[ozark trout fisher]

Reminds....

http://youtu.be/4MYjyLg8bbo

I love that clip. Summarizes a lot of our problems IMO.

[Tim Smith]

funny post Tim. A while back I said I would be glad to spend a day fishing with you, and you blew me off. You are a liberal, I am a conservative. But you were the one who got their panties in a wad.

I don't care if you're a conservative, Jerry. Most of the people I fish with are conservative. I just don't like you as a person. I'm not going to waste my time on someone who plays fast and loose with the facts or goes out of their way to be rude.

[ness]

This convo sums it up pretty nicely.

[Al Agnew]

The USA is very much in decline...similar to the Roman Empire, we have no moral compass anymore.

I agree the country is in decline, but it depends upon exactly what you mean by "moral compass". If you're talking about politicians who care nothing about what's good for their constituents or the country and only about what's good for their friends and campaign donors, agreed. If you're talking about people and companies of power and influence who care only about how much more money and power they can accrue, agreed. If you're talking about the entertainment industry and (because of the entertainment industry) huge segments of the public that are obsessed with sex, violence, and rampant consumerism, agreed.

But if you're talking about stuff like a perceived turning away from religion among the populace, or "gay marriage", or prayer in schools, or all the other stuff the religious right considers moral decline, well, I can't agree. Plenty of non-religious people are moral and plenty of religious people are not, and what they believe has little or no effect on the welfare of the country.

The U.S. is in decline because there are way too many people chasing way too few good jobs anymore, way too many people who are ill-prepared and totally unwilling to work at those jobs, way too many people who don't have a clue how to raise children and who won't take responsibility for doing so, and way too many people of power and influence who won't take responsibility for how their actions affect the country.

It amazes me how well this country continues to go even with all those ills. Somehow, most of us still have it pretty darned good. I can't imagine living anywhere else, and consider myself extremely fortunate to have been born in this country. Even poor people in America live lives that poor people in so many countries can't even conceive of living. Perhaps that's changing, but I'm afraid that when America goes down the tubes, either the rest of the world will have led the way down, or will be right on our tails.

[Jason R.]

I am a 20 something. All this complaining about my generation is humorous in that it is the older generation who is running the country. I am not saying my generation will fix anything- just that we were raised by yours, lead by yours, taught by yours. It is the 50 somethings who created our current culture. In 30 years I am sure I will be complaining about 20 somethings too.